0:00-0:03 I’ll introduce myself:
0:03-0:08 Nsingi Ndosimao Simon
0:08-0:11 Alias: ‘Sim Simaro’,
0:11-0:13 ‘The Prophet of Popular Painting’.
0:13-0:16 That’s my slogan.
0:17-0:20 I practice popular painting.
0:20-0:22 I’m one of the great
0:23:0-26 popular painters from Congo.
0:27-0:29 Because popular painting began…
0:30-0:33 It began a long time ago,
0:34-0:36 in the time of our grandparents.
0:37-0:38 But it was not well known.
0:39-0:41 If it is well known today,
0:42-0:44 then it is thanks to us.
0:45-0:47 Today, people know that
0:47-0:49 popular painting exists.
0:50-0:52 And that is thanks to me.
0:52-0:54 I can list the colleagues with whom
0:54-0:55 I started popular painting
0:55-0:57 here in Kinshasa.
0:58-0:59 I am one of them.
0:59-1:00 There is also Chéri Samba,
1:00-1:02 Chéri Benga,
1:03-1:06 Bodo, Ange Kumbi…
1:08-1:12 And also Chéri Chérin.
1:12-1:13 Even though he is younger than us.
1:14-1:17 And a few more who came after us.
1:18-1:19 People like Matshuela.
1:20-1:21 There are literally too many of us
1:21-1:22 to list.
1:23-1:24 Sinzi is another one.
1:25-1:28 We are the ones who started popular painting,
1:29-1:30 as it is known today
1:31-1:33 in Kinshasa, and the whole world.
1:34-1:38 We are the professionals in this kind of painting.
1:40-1:42 As far as my work is concerned…
1:42-1:44 When I left school
1:44-1:46 I could not find work.
1:47-1:49 I didn’t know what to do.
1:49-1:51 But I said to myself that I
1:51-1:53 was actually good at drawing.
1:53-1:55 From when I was little, at school,
1:55-1:57 I was good at drawing.
1:58-2:00 I thought, ‘I have no work
2:01-2:04 but I am good at drawing’.
2:05-2:07 We were eating somewhere
2:07-2:08 on Avenue Bokasa
2:09-2:13 and I saw the writing, ‘Artista Pintor’.
2:13-2:17 Artista Pintor is a man who
2:17-2:20 makes murals.
2:21-2:23 He decorates signs.
2:24-2:27 I told him that I was also good at drawing
2:28-2:30 and asked him if
2:30-2:34 I could be his apprentice
2:34-2:38 in order to build a future for myself.
2:39-2:43 He said that I could certainly come
2:43-2:45 and learn something from him.
2:45-2:48 So I helped him, for example,
2:48-2:50 at the textile manufacturer Utex Africa.
2:50-2:53 Sometimes we worked nights
2:53-2:54 and I came to the studio during the day.
2:54-2:56 I followed him everywhere he went to decorate walls
2:56-2:58 or went to make stamps.
2:58-3:01 Or illuminated signs.
3:03-3:07 So I already made sketches for him,
3:07-3:11 of animals, of dilemmas, of the mermaid …
3:12-3:14 I did that for a year.
3:15-3:17 Then his business went bust.
3:18-3:20 I didn’t want to stay idle.
3:21-3:22 So I built a shed.
3:22-3:25 And on the wall I painted a drawing
3:26-3:28 of myself as a needy person,
3:29-3:33 begging for charity.
3:34-3:35 Many people came to ask,
3:35-3:38 ‘Where does that poor wretch come from…?’
3:38-3:41 So many people came
3:42-3:43 that it became bothersome.
3:44-3:46 Many young people from Kingasani
3:47-3:48 also begged me:
3:48-3:50 ‘Give me the mermaid’s powers!’
3:50-3:52 I said, ‘But I don’t have them!’
3:52-3:54 ‘They’re just drawings.’
3:54-3:56 For me the mermaid is just beautiful to draw.
3:57-3:59 It’s a beautiful girl, that’s all.
3:59-4:01 That’s the only reason why I draw her so often.
4:02-4:03 But I don’t have her magic powers.
4:04-4:06 The women from the street
4:07-4:09 come and help me with their beauty
4:09-4:10 to draw the mermaid.
4:10-4:12 In a positive sense.
4:12-4:14 As regards my work…
4:15-4:17 I mainly work with oil on canvas.
4:17-4:19 And acrylics.
4:19-4:21 That is my technique.
4:21-4:24 Sometimes one part in oil paint and another in acrylic
4:24-4:26 but always on canvas.
4:29-4:33 I really love everyday themes.
4:33-4:35 So a variety of themes.
4:36-4:38 Markets, for example.
4:39-4:40 There are always lots of people there.
4:41-4:44 Like one of my drawings that’s now being exhibited.
4:44-4:46 ‘The atmosphere at Kinshasa’s central market’
4:47-4:49 I often draw the bustling scene
4:49-4:51 on the central market in Kinshasa.
4:52-4:54 The beautiful things that
4:55-4:56 people buy and sell.
4:57-4:59 And then a thief that is stealing there!
5:00-5:03 Before he steals, he prays to God.
5:04-5:06 ‘God, help me.’
5:06-5:07 ‘I’m about to steal.’
5:07-5:12 ‘Help me and I will donate part of it to the priest.’
5:13-5:17 So thieves who pray when they steal.
5:18-5:23 I don’t know if God actually helps thieves.
5:24-5:25 Because God is great.
5:25-5:29 Does he actually allow that?
5:30-5:36 But I draw that, because I see them doing it.
5:37-5:39 I often draw animals too.
5:40-5:46 Like in my work ‘Animal Football’.
5:47-5:50 I enjoy that.
5:50-5:53 So I make the animals play football.
5:54-5:56 I give it the title:
5:56-5:58 ‘The rules have to be amended.’
5:59-6:00 Because the arbitration doesn’t always run smoothly.
6:02-6:04 The referee is only human.
6:04-6:06 He has his feelings.
6:07-6:08 In some cases I don’t agree with him.
6:09-6:10 It would be better if the referee was electronic
6:10-6:12 or a robot.
6:13-6:15 With a human, the feelings are too dominant.
6:16-6:18 He can wrongly whistle for offside.
6:18-6:19 That’s why I have created that work.
6:20-6:24 So that is what I, Sim Simaro,
6:24-6:26 can briefly say today.
6:27-6:29 If you can come again
6:29-6:30 I’ll tell you the rest.